Lee Carsley’s first England squad featured a few eye-catching names, but one in particular made Man United fans sit up and take notice.
Just two days before his 24th birthday, Lille attacking midfielder Angel Gomes has been called up by the Three Lions for the first time ahead of next month’s UEFA Nations League trip to Dublin and the visit of Finland to Wembley three days later.
From #YoungLions to #ThreeLions 🦁
Congratulations to @Morgangibbs27, @agomes_47, @NoniMadueke_ and Tino Livramento on their first senior call-ups! pic.twitter.com/SqIm7Twkq0
— England (@England) August 29, 2024
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Who is Angel Gomes?
Gomes was born in north London when his Angolan-born father Gil, a former Portugal under-21 international forward was playing for non-league Hendon.
However the family relocated to Salford and Angel joined the youth set-up at Manchester United aged just six, working his way through the academy to reach the first team.
He decided to leave four years ago after rejecting a new contract over concerns about his playing time at Old Trafford under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
While Gomes shone for the United youth teams in the UEFA Youth League, Under-18 Premier League and Premier League 2, he made only 10 first team appearances in all competitions across three seasons.
He was in the field for just 46 minutes in total across five Premier League appearances and 28 more minutes combined in one EFL Cup and one FA Cup cameo, but did make three Europa League group stage starts in 2019/20, facing FC Astana home and away and AZ Alkmaar on the road.
What happened after Gomes left?
Gomes joined Lille in August 2020 and was immediately loaned out to Portuguese side Boavista for the season, playing 32 times and scoring six goals and assisting six others.
The following season he made the breakthrough at Lille and was also handed an England under-21 call-up by Carsley, who picked him 18 times in total across the past three seasons and named him in the starting XI for last summer’s European Championship Final win over Spain.
He played 45 times in all competitions for Lille last season, scoring only twice but assisting 10 goals, and has amassed nearly 150 games on the continent, but his contract with the Ligue 1 club is up after this season.
What about now?
Thank you all for the support, means the world to me! Look forward to recovering and getting back out there❤️ Love and blessings to all! pic.twitter.com/Zg4zBdQpBO
— Santi Gomes (@agomes_47) August 18, 2024
He has missed the last three games after being stretchered off with a head injury following a nasty collision against Reims, including both legs of the Champions League play-off against Slavia Prague, which saw Lille reach the new-look league stage.
“Angel’s very technical,” Carsley told his maiden media conference. “He controls the game with his skill and technique. He’s very determined, has an excellent attitude and loves football – I think he’s a player people are going to be excited to see.”
Gomes joined Morgan Gibbs-White, Levi Colwill, Anthony Gordon and Cole Palmer in Carsley’s staring XI for the Under-21s Euros final, all of whom have been included in his maiden squad after being named interim replacement for Gareth Southgate.
